During week 4 of the NFL games, the Miami Dolphins were scheduled to play the Cincinnati Bengals for Thursday Night football. On September 29th, Tua Tagovailoa was wheeled off of the field after being taken down by the opposing team player, Josh Tupou. The well known quarterback, a University of Alabama alumni, was diagnosed with a horrific concussion almost immediately after the collision. He appears to experience whiplash and fails to get up from the ground. Tagovailoa was sent to a local hospital in Cincinnati where the doctors and specialists, went over the routine NFL concussion protocol; he was cleared soon after. Tua was then told that he could fly back home with his team Friday morning.

Head coach, Mike McDaniel, handled the brunt of interviews withholding this situation. According to ESPN, McDaniel informs, “”Right now he is in the building. He’s had a couple good days, but he’s just trying to go through with the proper procedure and protocol so that he’s feeling 100 percent,” (ESPN.com). This was said when his fans and teammates were waiting for Tua to return to the field. However, he had not been back for two weeks, which sparked a lot of controversy in fans. Ramapo teacher, Mr.
Wadhams, claims “I think that they care more about making a profit then anything else.”
People started looking back at his latest game and noticed another fall during week 3. Tagovailoa was hit during a game against the Buffalo Bills. He is seen being hit by defender, Matt Milano; as he gets up, Tua stumbles returning to form a new play. This is very concerning considering after having a fall, one should not experience difficulty walking. The athletic directors brought him to the locker room to perform a procedure in which he was cleared to play the rest of the game. What started conflicts, was how quickly Tagovailoa was given the “ok”.. When an event like this happens it is mandatory that a neuro trauma expert inspects the player. In Tua’s case, this did not occur.. Therefore, he returned to finish the game which ended in a win.
When asking Ramapo junior, Courtney Collins, about these injuries and their effects, she was very passionate about her answer: “He should have been immediately taken off and not put back on to continue the game. I have dealt with an injury before and all you want to do is return to the field to help the team, but your safety is truly what comes first.”